“Ingenuity allows you to be in two places on Mars at the same time,” the helicopter sent a new photo from the Red Planet

The Mars helicopter Ingenuity has explored a ridgeline near an ancient river delta in Lake Crater because it is of interest to scientists flying the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter mission.

On the right, a large image of one of the rocky outcroppings of the ridge is enlarged. The science team named this line of rocky outcroppings Fortun Ridge. The image was taken on April 23 during the 27th flight of the Martian helicopter. Recall that each subsequent flight of Ingenuity becomes a record. The spacecraft, which first took to the skies of Mars last April, was originally designed for only five flights. NASA developed Ingenuity to show that controlled flight to the Red Planet is possible and that future missions could use drones to explore space. Now Ingenuity is working as an aerial reconnaissance mission, helping the Perseverance team on Earth choose the best route for their rover.

This part of Jezero Crater is of interest to the science team because of the clear outcrop of rocky outcrops that define the boundary between two adjoining crater floor geologic units, Seitah and Maaz. The geology of both blocks is believed to be of igneous (volcanic) origin.

Not only does Ingenuity provide bird’s-eye views, it also allows our team to be in two places on Mars at the same time.” Sending a rover to survey and reconnoiter one location and launch a helicopter to survey another hundreds of meters away is a great time saver. It can also help us explore areas that the rover will never visit, as in this case.

Ken Farley of the California Institute of Technology, Research Fellow at the Perseverance Project.